Russian carrier Nordwind Airlines will be launching new operations from Russia to both Skopje and Belgrade over the coming months. The airline will introduce its second service to the Macedonian capital after Moscow, with flights from St Petersburg to commence on September 21. Services will be maintained once per week, each Tuesday, with the 110-seat Embraer E190 jet, operated by its partner Pegas Fly. Additional details can be found here. Furthermore, the carrier will increase its two weekly Moscow - Skopje service to three per week, starting September 28. The airline has filed the Airbus A321neo as its planned equipment on the third weekly rotation, complementing the E190 and Boeing 737-800 operating on the other two days.
Currently, the Moscow - Skopje service is predominately used by those continuing their journey to Montenegro, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Albania and Greece. However, Russian tour operators are beginning to embrace Macedonia as a tourist destination. Nordwind sees potential in the destination as entry for Russian nationals is visa free. Russian citizens continue to face entry restrictions on a number of markets, particularly in Europe. Based on OAG data, during the pre-pandemic 2019, there were a total of 1.209 indirect travellers between St Petersburg and the Macedonian capital.
Nordwind is planning on introducing its fourth route to Belgrade after Moscow, St Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don, with the latter to be launched on September 16. The carrier intends on commencing a one weekly service from Krasnodar to Belgrade from October 5, however, tickets are yet to be put on sale. The airline recently received a permit from the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate to launch its Rostov operations, despite a stringent bilateral air service agreement in place between the two countries, which has resulted in two airlines being blocked from introducing flights. Nordwind will compete directly against Air Serbia on the new Krasnodar service, with its network between the two countries mirroring that of the Serbian counterpart, although the Serbian carrier maintains significantly more frequencies.
Very Nice but still LJU is waiting
ReplyDeleteSKP got LED flights before LJU :(
DeleteLJU won't have Moscow either this winter...
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/08/aeroflot-suspends-ljubljana-ticket.html
DeleteLJU is waiting for new management that will care for the airport.
DeleteActually Nordstar also discontinued ZAG flights.
DeleteNordstar?
DeleteIf you are referring to Nordwind, no, flights have not been discontinued and are operating normally. Next flight is tomorrow, arriving at 16.40.
DeleteFantastic news
ReplyDeleteInteresting how Nordwind is going for exactly the same routes as JU. Any particular reason?
ReplyDeleteI guess JU went for the biggest market out there in Russia so N4 is doing the same.
DeleteI wonder if Red Wings will launch any new flights. Russian arrivals are booming this year, in June there were almost 7000 of them.
^ They are planning on it
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/08/russias-redwings-airlines-plans-new.html
Yeah but Ural had a similar announcement and nothing happened in the end. That's why I am wondering.
DeleteLet's see if Air Serbia will continue these routes in winter.
DeleteI think Air Serbia and Nordwind have completely different passengers on these routes. I believe Air Serbia has more transfers while Nordwind is handling tourists.
DeleteNordwind opens Rostov and Krasnodar beause if they get blocked by the serbian authorities, JU on these two routes will also get revenge blocked.
DeleteHave there ever been flights between LED and SKP?
ReplyDeleteA full service airline like Aeroflot would be better
DeleteNordwind is a full service carrier like Aeroflot.
DeleteTrue and you can also book connecting flights.
DeleteAnything other than Wizz Air is welcome news to me :D
Delete@9.16
DeleteNordwind is very similar to Air Serbia in terms of on board product.
@09:26 yes indeed except Nordwind exit seats cost a fortune to book. Both are more or less constantly late too so very similar in everything.
DeleteGood to see Nordwind got approval for Rostov-Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteI didn't believe it would happen. Good!
DeleteI think JU had to remain silent otherwise their own ROV and KRR flights would be suspended.
DeleteGood news, this shows that the market will stay strong in the coming months.
ReplyDeleteNordwind didn't fly to anywhere in ex-Yu before Covid now they serve several cities with expanding network.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Nordwind was barely present in the region before Covid and now they fly to most countries.
DeleteWho knew Covid would create so much demand.
DeleteI'm surprised they are still not flying to LJU. Actually with Skobir/Krašnja and Co. running this airport i'm not so surprised anymore.
DeleteGreat the more new routes the better.
ReplyDeleteAwesome news
ReplyDeleteI hope Nordwind also increases frequencies on its BEG routes. They are all once per week.
ReplyDeleteThey can't. There is a cap on frequencies. For example Air Serbia as Serbian airlines flies 8 weekly to Moscow. Russian airlines also have 8 weekly frequencies - 7 for Aeroflot and 1 for Nordwind. But this is Russian rule, not Serbian.
DeleteI honestly don't get these silly Russian caps and limits on frequencies. I who believes anymore it has anything to do with corona.
DeleteKeep the new routes coming.
ReplyDeleteIf (when) russians discover Ohrid, it could become a superb tourist destination for them.
ReplyDeleteAgree, I don't understand why Russian tour operators have not created packages for Macedonia. Doesen't make sense.
DeleteIt's odd. Same as Aeroflot not serving SKP.
Deletethey started. that statement in the article comes from some guy from that russian article who is only speculating
Delete@9.25 you are right and i hope that is not something as stupid as politics standing in the way
DeleteThey have never flown to Skopje. I doubt it had anything to do with politics. Look at the numbers, like the ones for LED. There isn't a lot of demand. Nordwind on the other hand can create demand by working with tour operators.
DeleteMany large European legacy airlines don't serve Skopje. The only three that do are Turkish, LOT and Austrian (and LOT has become seasonal). So I don't think it has anything to do with Aeroflot. The question is why more legacy airlines aren't flying to Skopje from main European hubs.
Deleteanon 15:15
DeleteBecause Skopje is only half milion people. Check out coverage of other similar sized cities from main hubs.
The facts as they are, OHD is more touristic compared to SKP. Actually many Balkana capitals are less touristic compared to their countryside.
DeleteExamples: Bucharest vs Transylvania
Athens vs Greek Islands
Sofia vs Plovdiv or Varna
Ankara vs Istanbul or Antalya.
So there will be at least two airlines flying on every single route between Serbia and Russia.
ReplyDeleteHave the fares between BEG and Russia reduced as a result?
DeleteNot really because demand is still great than the offer, even with all these additions.
DeleteExactly. Remember, just SU had 3 daily flights to Belgrade before pandemic.
DeleteAlso Russian tourist numbers to Serbia is on 2019 levels but the number of weekly flights is way below that.
DeleteAnyone ever flown with Nordwind?
ReplyDeleteI wish them success
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with Nordwind scheduling flights less than a month before they start. I mean how can they get a good result when they put tickets on sale 3 weeks in advance?
ReplyDeleteOnly one flight a week that is probably filled with tour operators well in advance, so they sell just a few tickets online in the beginning.
DeleteIs this privately owned airline?
ReplyDeleteNordwind Airlines was founded in August 2008 by the Russian and Turkish branches of tour operator Pegas Touristik.
DeleteThanks
DeleteThey have a fleet of 32 planes! not bad at all
DeleteСеверный ветер
ReplyDeleteI had no idea they got approval for Rostov, I thought they are gonna get blocked. Serbia Russia market is off the hook, crazy.
ReplyDeleteHad CAD not blocked others we would have at least two more airlines flying several routes to Russia.
DeleteThey had to grant them rights because they risked JU losing its permits for flights other than Moscow and St Petersburg.
DeleteWow there were very few pax flying LED-SKP.
ReplyDeleteThe good thing is Nordwind will create a new market.
DeleteGood news. Butflights between Belgrade and Russia are an absolutely rip off.
ReplyDeleteAeroflot and Nordwind must be happy that Belavia can no longer fly to BEG. They had a big share of Russian transfer passengers.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSame as Air Serbia has been profiting from there being no flights between Montenegro and Russia.
DeleteShame there are still no flights between Russia and Nis.
ReplyDeleteIs there demand?
DeleteI believe so, especially since it was reported that most Russian tourists are going to Kopaonik which is closer to Nis than Belgrade.
DeleteAnd also if you read the text you will see that many are using the Skopje flights to go to southern Serbia.
DeleteIt would probably involve INI airport and its management actually doing something. You can't just sit on your hands waiting for someone to come to you. They had a very proactive management a few years ago that brought Ryanair, Wizz Air and Swiss. Then they fell out of favor with the ruling party, they were replaced and now you have what you have.
DeleteKraljevo is the best option for the Kopaonik mountain, although it can't handle Airbus planes.
DeleteWhy doesn't JU start flights then? Why expect a Russian airline to do it?
DeleteBecause Air Serbia has poor infrastructure in all foreign markets and it would be difficult for them to engage with Russian tour operators.
Delete@11,21
DeleteDestinations such as FKB and FDH are considered higher priority by the government for improved connectivity for INI rather than global hubs such as SVO, or destinations that could attract tourism to the region.
In fact, the tender and choice of destinations were soo well thought out, only HHN and TIV is left out of 12 destinations. Fantastic success.
Destinations that actually could attract business and tourists to Nis will just have to wait.
The tender could not forsee a global pandemic or entry ban for Serbian citizens to most of Europe.
DeleteSo the pandemic is why BUD closed? Frankfurt is open for travel but Friedrichshafen is closed which is why JU operates HHN and not FDH?
DeleteThe whole idea of the subsidies is for the airline to not make a loss operating the flights, while stimulating tourism and investment in the area, connecting it to cities important to the region. Instead, a rigged tender created for JU forces them to these routes that obviously lack demand or could be better operated by ULCC's. HAJ, SZG and NUE, aside from HHN will operate this winter. 4 out of 12 stipulated in the tender. Pushing the pandemic card only goes so far.
Nice!
ReplyDeleteGreat. It's good to see more and more secondary Russian cities served from BEG.
ReplyDeleteIt would be better to have secondary Serbian cities served from Russia seeing as all these are already served by JU from BEG.
DeleteIt seems that's where the demand is.
DeleteWhat a mix of equipment to SKP - E190, 737-800 and A321neo!
ReplyDeleteAlso anyone know what equipment they use on the BEG flights?
DeleteAll flights are operated by B737-800.
DeleteThank you
DeleteSVO-SKP on 11.8 was 95% full according a russian website (the one that first reported about this new route) so im not surprised with the speed of their frequency increase.
ReplyDeleterussian tourists have entered the monthly top10 in MK in June for the first time ever(no data for july yet)
now we need SkyUp in SKP
ReplyDeleteThere is Windrose.
DeleteThey have reduced it to one weekly.
DeleteFares between SRB and RUS are out of lunch especially with JU. I booked a flight yesterday SVO-BEG-SVO (25 Dec // 08 Jan) and fare with luggage on SU was 35091 Rub while JU fare was 45695 Rub. JU departure of return flight is at 07:30 while SU departs Beg at around 13h so SU much more convenient. I wonder what are guys at JU smoking to justify such higher fares compared to Aeroflot when their product is not even close to SU product. Is chips that they serve gold plated??
ReplyDeleteFares are matter of huge demand and limited number of flights due to billateral.
DeleteWell to be fair you booked on the most popular dates but they are both expensive. I was looking at spending New Year in Moscow last year and the price with Aeroflot was around 500 euros, with JU I think was around 800. In the end decided to go to Dubai. Ticket with Flydubai was 350 euros.
Delete@15:11 I live in MOW and every year it is the same story; the closer to these dates the more insane they get, I have seen Aeroflot prices go up to 1100USD for a no luggage fare! That is why I am buying now and praying that everything turns out OK (I mean with this covid sharade one never knows).
Deletecharade*
Delete+1
Skopje with yearround flights to both Moscow AND Saint Petersburg...
ReplyDeleteRespect for that!
It will have a total of 4 weekly flights to 2 cities in Russia, compared to LJU which will have nothing. Thats big achivement for me. Bravo SKP!
DeleteLJU has daily flights to Frankfurt. Thats enough!
DeleteYeah, LJU has daily FRA flights.
DeleteAnd others have 30-40 different destinations , no matter the size of the airport.
The Serbian directorate forbade Ural and other russian airlines to open new routes with no competition at all for JU, with the result that now JU has competition on ALL of its routes.
ReplyDeletePerfect example of shooting yourself in the foot!
No sympathies here..
You are probably aware of the level of professional knowledge in both of these institutions run by the gov. of Serbia (better say mafia) so no wonder.
DeleteThis has confirmed fears that Russian airlines are targeting only destinations already served by Air Serbia. There is no doubt Russia in general is now viewed as working against aviation in Serbia and Air Serbia in particular. More people will now view Russia for what they really are, a foe.
ReplyDeleteThis above content is quite malicious to say the least. Having competition is good thing for the general public. There is a saying "business is business, love is love" so RU airlines are just trying to expend their business and air serbia will have to understand and adapt or go belly up.
DeleteAir Serbia to go belly up? Not just malicious but hateful. Russia showing true nature.
Deleteanon 18:43
DeleteI am sure that anon 18.28/19.50 is not flying anywhere, so unfortunately your argument about competiton and its impact on prices, will not change his mind.
And yes, it seems Russian airlines are targeting routes where they cannot be barred by Serbia from flying, contrary to routes where they were already denied. I do not think it has anything to do with working "against" somobody.
Are you sure I am not flying anywhere? Now I know you have no clue.
DeleteRussia moved first to reduce Serbia frequencies post Covid. What a PR disaster for your country and still heading lower with every excuse you are trying to come up with. Colossal loss of any respect for Russia is the least you deserve.
JU je ulistao KRR u zimski red letenja(3X),ROV još uvek nije,možda odustaju preko zime.
ReplyDelete